Another day, another Anaheim Ducks 1-goal win. They’re now 22-0-6 because the hockey gods love to fuck with people. Ugh.
The Los Angeles Kings are really fucking annoying to watch from about October til oh March or so when they really turn it on and half-ass their way into the playoffs. Sure they make the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice to cheer them on to victory every once in a while! Fuck.
Alright so here’s the skinny: this game was really fucking boring and really fucking long. The jersey retirement ceremony lasted about 30 or so minutes and took less time to carry out than the first fucking period. Both teams ended up with 14 SOG after the first but the Ducks were mostly out playing LA who didn’t register a single even strength (ES) chance.
Anyway, Quick was good and tracked the puck well. Jarret Stoll took a dumb boarding penalty in the offensive zone but the team was excellent in killing it off. How refreshing to see for a change!
The second period looked like it was going to be another dull one but the Kings roused a sleepy Staples Center crowd by scoring in the first 5 minutes. I know! The Kings scored first! Who knew that was still possible? Alec Martinez’s shot from the blue line deflected off Kyle Palmieri and over Frederik Andersen’s shoulder.
With less than 5 minutes left in the period, Douchey Bald Fuck uh I mean Ryan Getzlaf tied the game. Quick couldn’t handle the rebound while Drew Doughty over skated the puck, although he mostly nullified Patrick Maroon. However Anze Kopitar was slow on the backcheck leaving Bald Fuck alone to poke in the rebound. It was a failure on three people: Doughty, Quick and Kopitar. Damn it, Kings.
Late in the period, Silffvfvvverberg high sticked Brayden McNabb in the mouth and received a double minor. Most of the PP, especially the first two minutes, looked like poop. But then the magic of Marian Gaborik and Kopitar came to life. Gaborik sent a slick backdoor feed to Kopi who tipped it past Andersen.
2-1 Kings. OK, deep breath. Close out the period, then have a strong 20 minutes to win the game.
Hey, do you guys remember when the Kings were undefeated through something like 100+ games when they were leading after 2 periods? I miss that team. These fuckers can’t close out a game anymore and it bums me out.
The Kings looked like they were pretty in control in the third period. There were some scary moments, but Quick was up to the challenge and it was an otherwise quiet period until about 9 minutes in, Doughty (supposedly) tripped up Typhoid Corey Perry. With 33 seconds left Sami Vatanen I guess shot on goal and the puck deflected off Matt Greene because January is the month of flukey deflection goals off our own players.
The Kings didn’t threaten in the remainder of the period but neither really did the Ducks.
In OT, the Kings looked mostly in control and had several chances, but none were that extraordinarily difficult for any decent goalie to stop. Hell, even Ilya Bryzgalov could’ve stopped the Kings in OT.
Shootout
Round 1:
Carter – Save
Perry – Save
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Round 2:
Kopitar – Save
Silfoiwerjoijverberg – Goal (because of course)
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Round 3:
Gaborik – Save
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Game over.
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The good news is that in 10:35 of ice time with a minute of PP time, Nick Shore was pretty good. He seemed calm, confident and didn’t act too nervous. He also didn’t fuck up and directly lead to any scoring chances against. Well done, kid!
Other than that one positive, this was a bad game and the Kings should really be ashamed of their effort and performance because it was just awful. They were outshot and even out-attempted at ES. They barely registered any ES scoring chances and seemed to be chasing the game (despite leading) for most of the night. Wunderkind Johnny Gaudreau and the Calgary Flames will be in town on Monday night so let’s hope they manage to make the Flames look as bad as they really are.